I pushed the ignition button and the engine roared to life, giving me a little thrill. But I couldn’t shake my growing sense of unease. Kieran was always cool under pressure. I hadn’t felt any anxiety from him. But his actions spoke of him being under attack.

My gut twisting, I opened my mouth to ask about it, and instead blurted out, “The kids are stealing from Kieran.”

“He knows.” Bria pulled out her phone and looked at the screen. “We’re going to be late, so take it slow. Enjoy this fine new automobile that came at a very steep price. Toot, toot.”

I pressed my lips together. “Toot, toot” was her way of saying I’d boarded the train of bad decisions the first time I hooked up with Kieran, and the steep price was all the crap I had to do to fit into his life. He was worth it, but I was hard-pressed to convince her of that. Or, last night, myself.

“Wait…” There was a lot to unpack in this conversation suddenly. “Don’t you mean I should see what this baby can do so I make it in time? And also, what do you mean, he knows?”

“If we’re going to be late, we need to be fashionably late so this tutor knows who pulls rank. You do, by the way, in case that wasn’t clear. Nancy gave you clout. You need to take that shit to the bank. So slow down. We’ll make this baby work another time.

“As for your wards, Kieran is not an idiot, and he wasn’t born yesterday. That said, it was Mordecai who blew their cover. He’s a genuine, honest kid that will make a really fair, reasonable alpha one day. Thank God, because he’d be a shit thief. That kid is not sneaky.”

“I wonder why Kieran didn’t say anything,” I said, taking the turn a little too fast. The car stuck to the street like glue.

“I don’t know for sure, but my guess is he was tickled by Daisy getting one over on him. Zorn, who has known since the beginning, because he is a sneaky fucker, didn’t mention it because he was studying what she was doing. He said she was clunky at first, so he tailored a few training sessions to address her shortcomings. Then she was off to the races. I’ve never seen a man prouder of his pupil’s ability to steal from his boss.”

“A member of Kieran’s Six is teaching Kieran’s girlfriend’s ward to steal from Kieran. What kind of screwed-up scenario is this?”

“I mean, not really. This is helping Daisy’s training, and the money is making those kids feel more secure. Kieran wouldn’t begrudge them that. He isn’t Valens. But Daisy really shouldn’t have trusted Mordecai to help her. Or maybe it’s her supervision over Mordecai that is lacking. Zorn is trying to figure out how to adjust that.”

I just shook my head. I’d always been pretty vague when it came to morals, thinking of them more as a set of guidelines, but this was beyond me.

“So I shouldn’t shut this operation down?” I asked helplessly.

“I don’t know. Ask Zorn about it. He might have you deliver another test for her.”

I shook my head again, stopping at a light. A little fear wormed through me. “What else don’t I know? Why are the guys acting strange?”

Bria slowly blew out a breath. “I don’t know. Zorn took someone down yesterday, I’d bet my life on it.”

“Took someone, meaning…”

“Took them out. Killed them. Damned if I know who. Couldn’t have been someone with Nancy, or she wouldn’t be sending us a tutor of sorts.”

“But why wouldn’t they mention that?”

“My guess is Kieran doesn’t want to shift your focus from what he deems important—learning your craft so you can protect yourself.” She snorted. “Men are so stupid. They don’t listen. They don’t realize women are designed to handle multiple things at a time. It’s in our genetic makeup.” She shook her head, her lips pressing together in annoyance.

“In fairness, I did almost kill myself yesterday.”

“Different scenario.” She waved that away. “So now we have no choice but to operate blind. No problem. I can work with that. Here’s what we’ll do—you meet that tutor. Do not touch him. If he reaches out to shake your hand, you give him a flat look and clasp your hands behind your back. Got it?”

“It’s a bit rude—”

“Got it?”

“Yes.”

Bria nodded. “I’ll put a few spirits in a couple of rats—”

“That math is wonky…”

“—and have them check things out. I’ll ask a few questions, too. You talk to Mia on your way in, see if she’s seen anything amiss. But don’t mention any of this to Kieran. If he hasn’t told you, that means he doesn’t want you knowing.”

“Right, but what if we learn something? Then what?” I asked.

“Then we confront the guys. If Kieran has become a target, it’s to make you more vulnerable. And mark my words: anyone going after him so early in the game is playing with spirit. No one admits it, but a lot of people have a blind spot when it comes to battling spirit. They simply don’t know how. But you do. You might be shit at it sometimes, but you always seem to find a way to pull through. If someone is going after Kieran, you are the only defense he has.”

11